Internal Migration in India Initiative (IMII) 

Internal migration in India accounts for a large population currently estimated at approximately 400 million, or nearly 30 percent of the total population.  These figures are indeed staggering when compared with estimates of Indian emigrants, i.e. 11.4 million. The constraints faced by seasonal migrants in particular (estimated at 100 million) are many – lack of formal residency rights; lack of identity proof; lack of political representation; inadequate housing; low paid, insecure or hazardous work; extreme vulnerability of women and children to trafficking and sexual exploitation; exclusion from state-provided services and entitlements such as health and education; inability to access banking facilities; and discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, class or gender. Being constantly on the move, migrants, of which nearly 70 percent are women, lose access to social security benefits linked to the residence, falling through the cracks of development policies and programmes focused on settled populations. The underlining assumptions of a majority of city officials and local authorities are that inhospitable and harsh cities are the best deterrent to migration flow.

The Internal Migration in India Initiative (IMII) was therefore launched in 2011 to address the multiplicity of challenges faced by migrants, men, women and children, and support their social inclusion in the economic, social, political and cultural life of the country, using a three-legged approach combining research, policy and advocacy. The informal network created under the IMII has been recently transformed into a new web-portal titled Gender, Youth and Migration (GYM). 

Links to related publications:

• Internal Migration: A Manual for Community Radio Stations; UNESCO New Delhi; 2015
• National Workshop on Migration and Global Environmental Change in India - Summary Report; UNESCO/Government Office for Science; 2014
• Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India; UNESCO/UNICEF; 2013
• Gender, Youth and Migration (GYM) web portal; online knowledge platform; 2013
• The Internal Migration in India Initiative - Flyer; UNESCO New Delhi; 2013
• Policy Briefs: For a Better Inclusion of Migrants in India; UNESCO and UNICEF; New Delhi; 2012
• National Workshop on Internal Migration and Human Development in India, Workshop Compendium, Vol. 1: Workshop Report; UNESCO and UNICEF; New Delhi; 2012
• National Workshop on Internal Migration and Human Development in India, Workshop Compendium, Vol. 2: Workshop Papers; UNESCO and UNICEF; New Delhi; 2012
• Urban Policies and the Right to the City in India: Rights, Responsibilities and Citizenship; UNESCO and Centre de Sciences Humaines; New Delhi; 2011
• First City Magazine:  Migrants: Voices of Delhi’s Silent Majority; UNESCO and UNICEF; New Delhi; 2011
• Historic Districts for All – India: a social and human approach for sustainable revitalisation - A Manual for City Professionals; UNESCO New Delhi; 2010
• Historic Districts for All – India: a social and human approach for sustainable revitalisation -  A Brochure for Local Authorities; 2010

For further information contact:

Ms Marina Faetanini
Section Chief and Programme Specialist in Social and Human Sciences
UNESCO New Delhi Cluster Office